Collegiate Baseball Div. I Poll 4-8-13

TUCSON, Ariz. — Louisiana St. (30-2) is ranked No. 1 for the first time this season in Collegiate Baseball newspaper’s NCAA Division I baseball poll after winning 12 consecutive games.

The Tigers, which barely nipped North Carolina by a point for the top spot, have the best 32-game record in the history of the program and are 11-1 in the Southeastern Conference — the best conference mark for an LSU squad since 1997 when the Tigers won 12 of their first 13 SEC games. Over the past weekend, LSU swept a 3-game series from previously No. 9 ranked Kentucky at home.

North Carolina (29-2) barely missed being ranked No. 1 for the eighth consecutive week. During the past week, the Tar Heels lost once to Clemson and then beat N.C. Wilmington and swept a 3-game series against Maryland at home. North Carolina continues to put up incredible pitching numbers with a superb 1.86 team ERA.

Poll Notes: Several other teams have also been hot. Vanderbilt (29-4) is 11-1 in the SEC and has won 10 straight. Cal. St.Fullerton has put together a 7-game winning streak while N.C.State and Arizona have won 6 in a row. In key series during the past week, Vanderbilt swept a 3-game series at Mississippi, Oregon St. won two of three at UCLA, Florida St. won two of three at Miami (Fla.), Oregon lost two of three at Arizona St., Oklahoma won two of three at Texas (the first series victory over the Longhorns in 15 years), Arkansas won two of three at Alabama, Mississippi St. won two of three against Florida, and N.C. State swept three from Virginia Tech.

Five teams fell out of the top 30 in Mississippi (0-3 last week), Oklahoma St. (1-2), Pittsburgh (1-3), San Diego (1-2) and Florida Atlantic (2-2). New to the poll are Clemson (21-11, 5 wins in a row), Stanford (16-10, won 5 of last 7), Arizona (21-11, won 6 straight), Arizona St. (19-9-1) and Creighton (18-6, leads Missouri Valley Conference with 5-1 record).

The Collegiate Baseball newspaper poll is the oldest college baseball poll. Its birth took place during the 1957 college baseball season.

• OF Patrick Puentes, Holy Cross: Puentes belted 3 home runs and 11 RBIs in six games last week as he went 10-for-22 with 7 runs scored, 2 doubles and a triple. He did the bulk of the damage during a doubleheader against Lafayette. Puentes was 7-for-8 with 3 homers, 9 RBIs and also hit for the cycle in the second game of the twinbill as he went 5-for-5 with 4 runs scored, 6 RBIs and 2 homers.

• 3B Daniel Miles, Tennessee Tech.: Miles hit 4 home runs and drove in 9 runs over four games last week as he went 7-for-14 at the plate. He scored 7 runs while walking 5 times. His slugging percentage for the week was 1.357.

• RHP Aaron Blair, Marshall: Blair struck out 11 batters with one walk and only allowed two hits in eight innings during a 4-0 win over Houston. In five of the eight frames, he went 1-2-3 through the Cougar lineup. At one point, he retired 14 in a row.